Major Upset?

Luis Carlos Abregu vs. Thomas Dulorme

This fight promised to be the coming out party for Puerto Rican prospect Thomas Dulorme, instead it was something else entirely.  It was a fight between two fighters in opposite times of their careers.  Abregu, a veteran fighter looking to get back in the mix in the welterweight division and Dulorme, a hot young prospect looking to defeat a name fighter and continue his ascent in the boxing world.

The first two rounds seemed to be going well for Dulorme.  He was pressuring Abregu and was landing more often and with more force.  But while some might have seen it as Abregu being outclassed it turned out he was just feeling out his young athletic foe.  Abregu showed the intelligence of a veteran and instead of coming out guns blazing decided to take a few rounds to dissect the game plan of Dulorme.

In the third round things began to swing in favor of the veteran Abregu.  He started to land his punches more frequently and has always been a very hard puncher.  Then in the middle of the third round Abregu caught Dulorme with a huge right hand and followed it up by a good combination to the head and shoulder area.  Dulorme's eyes rolled back in his head and for the first time in his career he fell to the canvass.  It didn't seem as though Dulorme would be able to get back to his feet to beat the count but he showed some toughness and was able to do so.  Even though he did beat the count it looked as if Dulorme was out on his feet and with one more big right hand from Abregu would be knocked out, but he somehow managed to finish the round.

In the fourth round Dulorme who fights in an orthodox stance suprised everyone by switching to southpaw.  The broadcast team criticized such a young fighter for switching his usual stance when he was in so much trouble but it worked beautifully for Dulorme.  His best rounds seemed to come once he made that switch and once again began to land some good clean punches on Abregu.  Then in the seventh round Abregu caught Dulorme with a huge left hand, once again sending him to the canvass.  Again Dulorme got up but his corner decided enough was enough and had the ref stop the fight, giving Abregu the TKO victory.

Dulorme definatley lacks experience and needs to refine his skills but he is very athletic and unlike most fighters in the sport seems to be just as affective fighting orthodox or southpaw.  Although at the time of the stoppage all three judges had Dulorme ahead, his corner did a great job of stopping the fight.  Dulorme is a young fighter and was constantly taking unecessary punishment.  This shouldn't be a major set back for such a talented boxer but might have been had the fight not been stopped.

Abregu now joins fellow Argentine's Sergio Martinez, Marcos Maidana, and Lucas Matthysse as very exciting, heavy handed fighters.  His right hand was lethal against Dulorme and should be against anyone he faces in the future.  Abregu's fan base is only going to grow after and great TKO victory against a solid prospect.  He has shown himself to be tough, rugged, and hard punching, a combination that big time boxing fans love to see.  The future is bright for Abregu in the welterweight division.  His only career loss came against Timothy Bradley and Abregu has expressed his desire for a rematch.  In fact Abregu said he would have won that fight had his right hand not been injured at the time.  Well Abregu showed everyone his right hand is healthy and a rematch against Bradley would certainley be welcomed by big time boxing fans.  It would be a tough, brutal slugfest and a fight that would provide Abregu a very good chance of avenging that lone loss.